Quick actions prevent Sparth blaze disaster

A PLUME of thick black smoke could be seen across Rochdale as firefighters tackled yet another Sparth inferno. More than 40 officers rushed to Mazda Spares as a fire engulfed a pile of old cars on Saturday afternoon.

A PLUME of thick black smoke could be seen across Rochdale as firefighters tackled yet another Sparth inferno.

More than 40 officers rushed to Mazda Spares as a fire engulfed a pile of old cars on Saturday afternoon.

The blaze is the fourth at the Corporation Road business in two years, but swift action prevented a major disaster this time, according to Rochdale fire station commander, Dave Astley.

"When our officers arrived on the scene at about 1pm the blaze was in severe danger of spreading," he said.

"We had difficulty in reaching a water supply, while the fire involved a pile of old cars, which are often at risk of explosion because there could be traces of petrol inside the tanks.

"It was also very close to a big crane – if it had hit that we would have been looking at a major disaster which would have continued for days rather than hours."

With assistance from a specialist machine to pump water to the fire, however, the crew was able to get the blaze under control within four hours.

"I am very proud of those officers involved," he added. "If they had not acted so quickly we would have faced an even more serious situation."

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but arson is suspected.

Mr Astley said he would be looking to work with the council in the hope of preventing further vandal attacks in the area.

Sparth has repeatedly made headlines in the Observer, following several fires involving scrapyards and tyre dumps.

One of the worst was at Brimrod Mill in 2002, from which smoke could be seen for several miles.

Mr Astley said: "These incidents cause a great deal of inconvenience for residents. I would urge anyone who can identify the perpetrators to come forward."

The latest attack has left the owner of Mazda Spares, Sheraz Khan, fearing for the firm’s future.

"This is the fourth fire to affect us in just two years," he said.

"Every time this happens, you can imagine it causes fears about jobs and it will inevitably lead to a loss of business.

"If this continues, we may have to close down or move on to another area."

He says he has passed on CCTV footage filmed in the run-up to the incident to the police.

The council’s street lighting manager, Terry Leedham said: "At the moment we have had no reports of any problems with street lighting in the area but we are always happy to discuss any raised by the fire service.

"Before we can provide any answers though, we will need to look in more detail at all the problems in the area and how better street lighting might play a part in helping to reduce them."